Kane County Coroner Charles West, whose trial on misconduct charges is pending, has undergone liver transplant surgery, his attorney said Wednesday in court.

West is awake, though not speaking, as he recovers at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago, attorney Gary Johnson told a Kane County judge.

Johnson said he did not know when West had the surgery. But he said the coroner’s prognosis is guarded.

West is awaiting trial on felony misconduct charges. He is accused of allowing two of his deputies, one of them his son, to take a television set from the home of a man whose death was being investigated by West’s office.

West has not appeared at any of his court hearings in months and has been hospitalized as he awaited a transplant. He took a medical leave from the coroner’s office in April. Johnson has said that West was suffering from cirrhosis that was not related to alcohol use.

West’s medical condition had stymied Johnson’s attempts to prepare a defense. At a hearing last month, Judge John McAdams said the court would appoint a doctor to assess the coroner’s physical fitness to stand trial.

Wednesday, McAdams said he had spoken to a number of doctors, but had not found one willing to examine West on behalf of the court.

McAdams set a status date of Aug. 2 and said the court should have a better idea of West’s condition and prognosis by then.